Spot premiums for fuel oil climbed on Monday after bids for November cargoes inched higher.

Singapore 380-cst high sulphur cash premium was pegged at $7.25 a metric ton. Meanwhile, cash premium for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel rose to $7.75 a metric ton.

However, the gains were capped amid an uptick in arbitrage supplies to Asia this month, while regional supplies in Asia remained plentiful.

Indonesia’s Pertamina offered a cargo of 200,000 barrels of V1250 LSWR fuel for loading between Nov. 16 and 17 from Balikpapan, in a tender that closed on Monday.

Separately, Thailand’s PTT offered 35,000 tons of low sulphur fuel for loading between Nov. 16 and 18 from Map Ta Phut, via a tender that also closed on Monday.

SINGAPORE PORT UPDATES

– The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Monday said it received an alert about an engine room fire onboard a Malta-flagged tanker, the Med Atlantic, which was anchored in the East Johor Straits within Singapore waters.
– Major energy company Shell and Singapore’s MPA deployed clean-up measures after a leak from a land-based pipeline, they said on Sunday.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil prices were broadly steady on Monday, following a more than 7% drop last week on worries about demand in China, the world’s top oil importer, and an easing of concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.

– Saudi Aramco is “fairly bullish” on China’s oil demand especially in light of the government’s stimulus package which aims to boost growth, the head of the state-owned oil giant said on Monday.

– China’s fuel oil imports climbed 6% month-on-month in September, customs data showed on Sunday, as some refiners accelerated their purchases amid expectations of a tax revamp that will raise costs for imported fuel oil.

– Spanish oil major Repsol has put on hold planned green hydrogen projects in Spain with an electrolysis capacity of 350 megawatts due to an unfavourable regulatory environment, a spokesperson told Reuters on Monday.

WINDOW TRADES

– 180-cst HSFO: One trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade

Source: Reuters reported by Jeslyn Lerh and edited by Shailesh Kuber